- BENNICOCO OBIECHINA and EMMY-CHUKS NWEZE
ENUGU is fast degenerating to a state without legitimate government or at best a state with a governor in exile. Security of lives and properties in the state is being threatened by lack of the presence of an elected political Head to give certain direction to worrisome matters.
Same goes for socio-economic activities which observers say is at a downward trend because everyone is focused on the whereabouts of the First Citizen of the state.
As the anxiety of the citizens grow by leaps, members of the opposition party are crying to the top that the governor has abandoned his responsibilities and absconded from his duties without emphatically telling his subjects his whereabouts. To some other critics of the Chime administration, the governor is simply missing and should be publicly declared wanted.
Controversy over the whereabouts of governor, Sullivan Chime is seriously raging in Enugu state. Whereas concerned sources allege that he is very sick and may have travelled overseas for medical attention, those sympathetic to the say that the governor is away on deserved vacation. So where is governor Sullivan Chime, is the governor on a sick bed in an oversea country or is he truly enjoying his vacation on arrears? Indeed this is the pressing question our investigative reporters tried to unravel.
National Daily, in an effort to verify governor Chimes true state of health and possibly his whereabouts, contacted knowledgeable sources within Enugu state government House, the State security department and members of his family. Most of those contacted where very cautious in their response to our inquiries but however volunteered useful information. One of our sources, in the government House said the government has been behaving “abnormally” in the past six months causing staff at the government House to wonder if everything is alright with him.
Many people may not know that governor at a point started behaving funny, in the middle of an important meeting or discussion, he will suddenly get erratic and then, suddenly he cools off. At another time he will appear very tired and needing some rest. You know the governor like drinking his cool bottle of Gulder perhaps that helps him to relax. His presence in his office has also became irregular or abridged at some point. He looked to me as someone who is depressed or suffering from an unknown ailment” the source said. Adding, “At a point in the past months, he even stopped coming to the office for some time until he suddenly stopped entirely. We saw him drive out hurriedly one morning between September 20 and 22. He has not returned to Enugu since then but one of his closest aides told us that he traveled abroad for medical attention. Activities at the Enugu state House has been crossly affected by the absence of the governor. The situation has caused the staff to either stay away from office or loiter about doing nothing.”
National Daily continued its stringent effort to ascertain the story behind governor Chime's whereabouts approaching a top security officer for needed information.
The security officer after hesitating said: “I am aware of the state of governance in Enugu state, people are complaining about the absence of the governor and the security implication. We are responsible for the security of life and property in the state. The security of every citizen including the governor is our responsibility. We know that the governor has not been feeling fine on recent times. Maybe he is suffering from stress or a more severe ailment but it is a fact that he has not been to the office in the past three months now. He traveled out for medical treatment” our security source said.
Our attempt to reach the governor's family members yielded some good results as one of them, a middle aged man claimed that their brother may have broken down as a result of his inability to observe his annual vacation for many years now. He also suggested that the governor may have had a slight problem with one of his body organs and needed therefore sound medical examination.
“The man could have been exhausted after working for several years without official leave. He obviously suffered stress and needed some rest overseas. He will use the opportunity to check his vital body parts to ensure that they are fully functioning because of his strenuous activities. He is surely coming back after having his deserved rest” the family source said. Again a hear related problem may be ruled out.
One source however said Chime's ailment is heart related and that is why he traveled to India for treatment.
However, National Daily investigation disclosed that governor Chime left the country between September 20-22 2012 for the United States. From the United States our source said he moved to United Kingdom from where he decided to visit India to further consult with his doctors. The governor according to our findings may have suffered a stress related ailment or malfunctioning of one of his organs and needed his doctors to thoroughly examine it.
Though, our finding also revealed that he took the opportunity of his having many vacations in arrears to travel oversea in the past three months to adequately observe some rest before he returns to the country.
Our finding also showed that he wrote to the State Assembly informing them of his trip overseas but however he failed to mention the state of his health only indicating his official leave.
Meanwhile the state Deputy governor is presently holding brief for governor Chime whose absence is still causing ripples in Enugu.
Chime's last public appearance was at the meeting of South-East Governors Forum on September 9, 2012 in Enugu and since then, he was yet to be seen by journalists in the Government House and public functions.
The Deputy Governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, has been acting in the governor's capacity, but his aides are reportedly not pleased with Chime's directives, that Onyebuchi should not approve more than N500,000 for any project, no matter the circumstance.
Our reporter gathered from insiders within government circles that the governor left the country about two weeks before the October 1 Independence anniversary but a source said that he left in September.
“He was not in a very good condition before he left the country for London. We noticed it. Although they didn't want to make it public, maybe because of the media,” an insider at the Enugu State Government House, who pleaded not to be mentioned.
“For some time now, we noticed that the governor has not been his usual bubbling self. You may not easily know this because he carries himself well and hardly talks, but some of us knew that the man was down.
“From what we heard, he is no longer in London; he was flown to India few days ago because his health condition wasn't getting better. As I speak to you right now, he is in a hospital in India.” Said a staff in the protocol office.
To heighten the suspicion over the governor's health, flood victims at Udi Local Government Area where Chime hails from said they did all they could to make the governor visit Udi communities that were ravaged by flood in early September, but to no avail, as they were told that he wasn't too strong to do so.
One of the Udi indigenes, Victor Ike, said Chime could not detail any of his aides to come on his behalf because he was from Udi and that if he did, especially for a sensitive matter in his local government, the press would easily have suspected that something was amiss.
“Heavy rains destroyed our houses and livestock worth millions of naira at Umuifi village in Obioma, Udi Local Government Area, yet the governor could not visit us, obviously due to his health,” Ike stated.
“Our people in government told us that on the day he was supposed to make it, he relapsed and the trip was cancelled.”
When our reporter contacted the Speaker of the Enugu House of Assembly, Eugene Odo, to find out if the governor transmitted a letter to him before leaving for London, Odo hung up the phone as soon as he heard the question.
He refused to pick subsequent telephone calls and did not respond to a text message sent to his mobile phone.
However, some members of the state House of Assembly who pleaded anonymity to avoid victimisation, said a letter was sent by Chime to the Speaker, but that the latter did not inform all the lawmakers of the letter.
Also, the Public Relations Officer in the Enugu State House of Assembly, Mr. Jonah Ugwuanyi, said, “It is not compulsory that the Speaker must read the letter to the entire House. He could decide to read it out during the plenary or executive session.”
While donating wheel chairs at the FSP Centre on Zik Avenue, Enugu, about two weeks ago, Odo reportedly said the governor informed him of his trip.
“The governor wrote me and said he was going on leave and that the deputy governor would act until he returns,” he said.
Worried by the avalanche of speculations, the Commissioner for Information, Chuks Ugwuoke was prompted to. “Chime was still on vacation and never came back to the country nor left hurriedly as was insinuated.” But the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Chime, Chukwudi Achife has informed National Daily that “the governor was never sick but only proceeded on vacation to London, not even India or America for medical attention, as some sections of the media have alleged. “As far as I am concerned, Gov. Chime left the country hale and hearty and will soon be back.”
NationalDaily
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